D.T. Carlson Co. | Custom Home Builder

Your home is a very special place. Creating a personal environment that’s unique to you - where your family can live and grow, relax and play - is what custom home building is all about. D.T. Carlson Co. is the custom home builder that will work with you to bring it all together, from initial concept to move-in day.

We first met Dan Carlson when we were hoping to build on a lot close to White Bear Lake, a location we believed would hold our future dream home. We interviewed several contractors and Dan was the only builder who met us at the lot to walk around and simply discuss our ideas, rather than giving us a lofty sales-pitch in a dark office while having us look through albums of boring photos we had already browsed on their websites. The turning point for us, as simple as it sounds, was that Dan was the only builder who just listened when we spoke about our dreams and answered my wife’s questions by speaking to her, not explaining everything only to me – this was the first testament to Dan’s amazing personality and kindness that we experienced. After “hitting it off” with Dan on our first meeting, we visited two of Dan’s recent projects in the cities, a stunning single-family home he built in Mahtomedi and a beautiful large addition he built onto an existing house in Pine Springs. Once we stepped into Dan’s Mahtomedi home, we knew we found our builder. However, when the seller decided to take the lot off the market, we were crushed. Nearly a year later, we found a small 1920’s lake home in Mahtomedi that we loved and as we first toured the house, we knew that we would have Dan build a great room onto the back of the house overlooking the lake. Before purchasing the home, Dan came out to the property and talked with us about our ideas, a fantastic afternoon that made us realize this was the home for us. We also shared a Photoshop mock-up of our idea that we had worked on – to see Dan’s excitement over our proposed vision was wonderful. Again, we were sold.
After taking nearly a year to obtain permits from the city due to variances on the land and the property’s shoreline, our new addition was underway, both in our home and in our family – my wife and I were expecting our first and the thought of building 2 months before our due-date made us a little nervous to say the least. To please the bank we interviewed three builders and Dan’s quote was right in the middle; however, Dan was the only contractor who spent more than 15 minutes looking around our house and discussing every detail of the project up-front – we had no idea if the other two contractors actually understood what we had envisioned or budgeted for our expectations. We also had two unique requests for the builders: 1) that their work would be complete by the time our baby was born, and 2) that they would allow my wife and I to do the rockwork on our new fireplaces, a project we had been dreaming of working on together for years. The first two contractors said they would do their best to complete the project on time, but would not let us do the brickwork, as they could not guarantee the quality. Dan eased our concerns and said he would be finished before the baby and would love to see us work on the fireplace. For the third time, we were sold and finally moving forward with Dan.
Exactly 2 months later and 1 week before our daughter, Kyra, was born, our addition was finished and needless to say, every inch of the 480 square feet is a dream come true. Dan’s attention to every detail, large and small, was above and beyond every expectation we had. As far as budget, Dan’s estimate was exact to the final penny. Also, we thought we would be living in dust for the last two months of my wife’s pregnancy – this was never the case as Dan and his team not only left the site immaculate at the end of each day, he went out of his way to re-tape all the plastic continuously so that we could be as comfortable as possible. Finally, the experience of walking around a safe, clean work-site every evening and taking photos of your dream addition as it is realized – well, that was something we never expected to enjoy so much. Had the site been a construction pile of tools, materials, and garbage – those amazing evenings would have never happened.
When asked by friends and acquaintances about our collective experience during the construction process, we find that our story focuses much more on Dan’s kindness and attention to detail than the actual construction process itself. In other words, we believe the unparalleled quality of his craftsmanship and consummate dedication to excellence were simply expected after visiting previous homes Dan had built; what we valued most in the experience was having Dan as a friend who truly cared about our family, our needs, and our home. We imagine having a contractor in one’s home from early in the morning to late in the evening could be a stressful, draining experience; however, when your contractor becomes a friend, it can be a highly satisfying and exciting time in one’s life. In our view, this is the part of the process that many overlook. Thank you, Dan Carlson, for the amazing experience and the exquisite great room you made a reality, a space that we will treasure and enjoy as long as our family continues to grow in this home. DT Carlson can truly make your dreams come true – we are living proof.

Charles and Jill Miller

From the minute we met Dan at his model home in Mahtomedi in the summer of 2009, to the moment he handed us the keys to our new home in October of 2010, D.T. Carlson Co. has been the epitome of an exceptional partner.
Every member of Dan's team is a focused professional and a talented craftsman who listens to what you hope to achieve and delivers.
The result of these qualities was an effortless design and construction process, and a beautiful home that we will happily live in for a very long time.

We could not be happier with the home that DT Carlson Co. built for our family. Dan Carlson has a passion for building homes and it shows in his attention to detail, craftsmanship, and personal attention that he gives to the entire home building process.
We had researched several homebuilders, but Dan’s professionalism, patience, and commitment to quality convinced us that DT Carlson was the builder for us. It wasn’t long after we made the decision to build with DT Carlson that we realized we had made the right decision. We had put our trust in Dan, and he did not let us down. Before even discussing the details of the house, Dan spent time asking us what we wanted out of our home. This meant a lot to my wife and me, because it was important that the home fit our current and future lifestyle.
Dan’s accessibility and willingness to listen carried on through the entire process. We really felt like we were part of the process and that building our home was a partnership that we shared with DT Carlson.
The quality and craftsmanship of the home DT Carlson built for us speaks for itself. It’s a beautiful custom crafted house, but at the same time, it’s a comfortable home for our family. And our relationship with DT Carlson did not end the day Dan handed us the keys to the house. In the months after moving into our home, Dan reached out to us several times to make sure we were satisfied and that our home was meeting our needs.
Dan understands that building a house does not start with putting a shovel in the ground or end with handing over the keys to the house. Dan Carlson understands that he is building more than a house- he is building a home.
Thank you D.T. Carlson